UM sets 22,000-student target in five-year plan focused on Hengqin

The University of Macau (UM) has unveiled its five-year development plan for the 2026/27 to 2030/31 academic years, projecting that its student body will exceed 22,000 by 2030/31, with 18,000 on the main campus and 2,000 studying and conducting research across campuses.

The plan outlines development goals, strategies, measures, and support mechanisms as an overall blueprint for the university’s high-quality development.

Over the next five years, the university will focus on developing its campus in the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, which is expected to be partially operational in 2028 and fully completed and in regular operation in 2029.

By the 2030/31 academic year, its student body is projected to exceed 22,000, with 18,000 on the main campus and 2,000 studying and conducting research across campuses. Residential colleges will expand to 20, and the university will continue optimizing its disciplinary structure and improving curricula across its five faculties in the sciences, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy, moving toward the academic and talent profile of a comprehensive research university.

According to the plan, the university will build on three national key laboratories as its strategic core, forming a “national laboratory plus research institute” system to strengthen basic research and original innovation.

It will establish major research platforms in artificial intelligence and brain science, biomedicine and clinical translation, intelligent medical engineering, and energy and carbon neutrality, linking the full chain from basic research through applied development to industrial transformation.

Rector Song Yonghua said the university will attract leading talent, build interdisciplinary teams, and cultivate outstanding young researchers through its talent scheme, helping create a hub for international high-end talent. It will establish an integrated, cross-border “one university, two campuses” management mechanism, with unified management, operations, student training, and qualifications across the main and cooperation zone campuses.